I'd imagine that most of us here have seen or at least heard of Ghost in the Shell. I'm curious as to what all of you think about the possibility of improving living humans with cybernetic implants or transferring human consciousness into data format, thus human computers, robots, what have you. Also do you see there being moral objections from groups of humans against these augmentations such as seen in Deus Ex Human Revolution? (I use this as an example since it's the only Deus Ex game I've played so am unaware if they exist in the rest of the series.) Or is this sort of society simply a fantastic pipe dream and can never actually be accomplished before we go extinct or are forced to devolve technologically?

Personally I am looking forward to this kind of technology and would definitely be one of the first volunteers to try it.

Our technology is nearly to the point of functional/practical robotic limbs and sensory (optical) augmentation already...there are still far too many unknowns about the human brain to allow for anything there...and depending on whose beliefs may be correct about the brain/mind/soul/etc...it may never happen...

..that said..it COULD be possible in a few decades to fuse hardware into the wetware for personal computing purposes...to "jack in" to the internet and such...I don't think I would want to be one of the volunteers though...as what holds true for current and past computers...NEVER buy a 1.0...is likely infinitely more true about brain augmentation...LOL...

When I was playing the Metal Gear Solid series, a cool technological development available was an advancement known as nanomachines.

They were basically augmentations for super-soldiers, injected directly into the bloodstream and served multiple functions such as monitoring vital signs, enhanced healing abilities, strengthened the immune system, released medications/vitamins/etc. when needed, etc.

I think if this technology became viable it has the potential to do so much in terms of human healthcare. The big hurdles would obviously be engineering such tiny machines, as well as working around the human body's natural immune resistance to foreign objects introduced, but the payoff would be well worth it.

from my point of view, i see absolutely no point. We are already the dominant species and our technology is hurting the Earth. If we continue to look in our solar system and rely on mars, we are surely to kill this planet and die. BUT! It would be better if the computer implanted into us would be VERY efficient.

If the computer implantation were to be spoken, we should start with star trek first. oh wait, they don't even know why cancer came from. no, they know. They know the cure, but they cant make money off of it. yep, this society would die before that is even invented

The human body is a just biological machine housing the human mind. It only acts under orders, but maintains itself to a degree without said orders. Granted that there's a way to improve it technologically without losing or numbing my somatosensory system, I wouldn't mind.

Modifying genetics directly is more interesting. It also raises more moral questions. Tinkering with natural evolution is sort of a point of no return if modified genes enter the human gene pool.

The bodies of living creatures are machines in the first place. The minds, too. The only problem is that evolution is a pretty indiscriminate mistress, whereas we would be messing with something we could never fully have the capacity to understand.

Read "Machine Man" by Max Barry for an interesting take on "improvement". :)

As for "tinkering with natural evolution"... we've been doing that for millennia. Take domestication for instance. The genes may not have been altered by technology, but we've certainly selected the ones we want.